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The Mets officially completed their trade for Alex Torres with the Padres, sending lefty Brad Wieck to San Diego. The trade, which was announced on March 30, is now Torres for Wieck and RHP Cory Mazzoni.

The teams had to wait to name Wieck because players cannot be traded until one full calendar year after they are drafted.

Does Wieck’s inclusion in the trade tip the balance toward the Padres? Not yet. To acquire the rights to Torres for almost five years, the Mets traded two guys who might never pitch in the big leagues for five full years.

Unfairly, Torres might be most famous among Mets fans for his padded pitching cap. However, the 27-year-old has been a largely solid member of the Mets’ bullpen. In his first 28 appearances in 2015, he’s compiled a 2.74 ERA with 27 strikeouts against 14 walks in 23 innings. By the advanced metrics, he owns a 138 ERA+ this year after a 102 ERA+ in 70 appearances last year.

No one will confuse the left-hander’s recent work for peak Billy Wagner, but he’s a solid big league bullpen arm.

The Padres optioned the oft-injured Mazzoni back to Triple-A on June 2 after a bouncing between the minors and big leagues since April 23. The Mets’ second-round pick in 2011 had a rough go of it in his first few outings in the show, allowing 13 earned runs and two home runs in just eight innings of work. But given that he’s pitched well in Triple-A and bullpens churn through arms, he’ll likely have a few more shots at the big leagues.

At the time of the trade, the 23-year-old Wieck was leading the South Atlantic League in both strikeouts (74) and strikeout rate (31 percent). But Wieck’s 8.8 percent walk rate was entirely ordinary and his 3.21 ERA wasn’t special considering he pitched his home games in the pitcher’s paradise of Grayson Stadium.

More important than Wieck’s production to this point is just how he achieved it, and how he will do at the upper levels. First and foremost, it is necessary to understand where Wieck starts. He stands 6 foot 9. That release point alone is something that relatively few South Atlantic League hitters are comfortable against.

Second, Wieck is 23 years old, a year older than average for the SAL. He’s relatively experienced for a SAL pitcher after a lengthy tour of colleges. Third, he throws plenty of changeups to keep hitters off his pedestrian fastball. It’s wise to be wary of pitchers who work backward in the lower minors because they might well not have the fastball to battle against big league hitters.

Fourth, Wieck has made progress with his breaking ball in 2015. He began the year by throwing a curveball, but had trouble keeping the pitch’s big break in the strike zone. Thus, with the help of pitching coach Marc Valdes, Wieck has moved to a slider. It has two plane break, and has worked better for him than the curve.

Finally, as is common among Sand Gnat pitchers, Wieck has been much better at home than on the road. At home in front of an expansive outfield, he put up a 2.60 ERA (10 ER, 34.2 IP) whereas on the road, his ERA was a much less remarkable at 4.22 (10 ER, 21.1 IP).

In short, Wieck, with a feel for his changeup and an improving slider, is an interesting, third-tier prospect. Alex Torres helps the Mets now, with the team chasing a playoff berth. Wieck could make a major league roster someday, but there’s also a chance he doesn’t. This is the kind of trade contending teams must make, dealing off an interesting lower tier arm and a potential reliever for an actual, major league caliber reliever.

Check out the Prospect File of 2012 first-round draft pick and Las Vegas 51s catcher Kevin Plawecki. With Travis d’Arnaud in the majors, Plawecki is the highest rated catching prospect in the Mets organization. A product of Purdue University, the 23-year-old started the season in Double-A and received a mid-season promotion to Triple-A.

DeGrom’s ability to throw strikes and generate ground balls would play out of a bullpen or a starting rotation. If his slider has really progressed, he should be given a chances to start at some point, but his first Major League role will likely be dictated in large part by the Mets’ greatest need in the coming months.